A conventional optical imaging system is adapted to map the brightness of various points of an object or a scene to a storage medium, such as a light sensitive film or a digital storage media. In a typical imaging system, a sensor (an array of light sensitive elements or photo-diodes, or film) performs the mapping operation. Such an imaging system includes a lens system that forms an image of the object on the sensor. Accordingly, each point of the object is uniquely mapped to a point on the sensor.
Another optical imaging system known in the prior art is commonly referred to as the compound eye. A compound eye includes multiple sensors each of which is arranged to receive the optical signal from a specific direction. Accordingly, each sensor detects the brightness of a specific point on the object but has limited collection area per sensor.